


Fallout For Shane

by Rivulet027



Category: Power Rangers Ninja Storm
Genre: F/M, Grief, Leadership, M/M, Remix
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-19
Updated: 2011-08-19
Packaged: 2017-10-22 19:43:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/241848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rivulet027/pseuds/Rivulet027
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post DT-teamup. Shane worried more about Dustin and Tori healing, but didn’t allow himself that time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fallout For Shane

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Power Rangers. It's not my toy box and I'm merely playing.
> 
> A/N: This was written for the Power Rangers Remix and is a remix of Scifisenti's piece [Fallout](http://scifisentai.dreamwidth.org/168453.html?#cutid1) which is amazing and everyone should read it.

The second time Hunter brushed his hand Shane began to worry that he wasn’t faking his enthusiasm as well as Dustin and Tori. It when he glanced and saw concern flicker over Hunter’s face that Shane realized that despite faking, that his recent bout with evil wasn’t affecting him, Hunter knew better. Hunter was trying to tell him he didn’t have to fake, but he did. Dustin and Tori were taking their cues from him and Shane wasn’t about to concern their new friends. This new team shouldn’t think that anything was wrong.

Faking at school was harder.

Abating Cam’s worry had taken prodding, but with Sensei all he had to say was that he’d take care of the others. Tori and Dustin spent that first night sleeping in his bed. He’d taken up residence in the chair he’d designated his nap chair. The two had tried to get him to squeeze on the bed with him, but he’d refused. Shane knew that he’d fall asleep if he laid there with them, taking comfort from them. Instead he watched them sleep, guarded over them, that first night and woke them when their dreams slide towards nightmares.

Dustin had done the same for him the next day, while Tori had taken it upon herself to convince everyone at school that they were doing fine.

Sensei had tried to give them the rest of the week off, but by their second day back at the Academy the three of them attempted to slide back into the routine of teaching. Classes were a distraction, something to hold on to.

Shane watched as Tori slowly healed by spending more time with Blake, taking off on her free time and strengthening their relationship.

Shane watched as the students once again begin to respond to Dustin, their leeriness gone as Dustin threw himself ever more into the role of complete airhead. How can he be evil when he’s so nonthreatening? Those brief moments of insight Dustin had, the ones that reminded them all how smart he truly is, all but relatively vanished. While Shane felt it was good that the students were once again trusting Dustin, his friend’s method of coping had to stop. He mentioned it to Cam.

“If I approach him, we’ll only end up fighting.”

Cam nodded, agreed and set off. Later Shane approached Dustin and acted as a sounding board, found out how exactly Cam had called Dustin on his recent lack of any intelligence. He listened and offered suggestions, then listened some more as Tori joined them. He prodded and got her to vent as well, offering what little he could that would make it feel as if he’s healing alongside them.

The students still flinched away from him.

They still watched him with wary eyes.

The worst part is that he can still feel the darkness, can still acknowledge its existence. It’s tangible in a way that it’d never been before.

They had wanted to destroy Blue Bay Harbor, the country, the whole world. He had told Lothor, ‘it’s our pleasure to serve under you.’

Just the thought still had the power to make him queasy.

The students that fell at his hands, the way it’d felt to toss fellow rangers around, the way he had revealed in causing terror and destruction won’t leave him.

“It wasn’t your fault.”

Shane saw the concern flicker over Hunter’s face again and realized he hadn’t been faking as well as he thought. Hunter had seen right through him and yet he couldn’t give in, not even in the privacy of his own room.

The lie that he had begun to heal, was dealing with his being evil, was easier than the truth that he hadn’t even begun.

“…You can’t blame yourself.”

There should be some rule that a boyfriend wasn’t allowed to repeat your own words back to you, Shane decided.

He protested in the only way he knew. He was the leader, it was his responsibility and Hunter only fired back that he was responsible for Blake, the only family he has.

Shane shuddered and drew in a breath, because Hunter knew, had known and he should have gone to Hunter first. He leaned into Hunter’s touch as he agreed to let Hunter help him, agreed to finally accept support.

For the first time in weeks Shane finally felt as though he could breathe.

“So, you want to yell or would you rather hit something?”

“Yelling hasn’t done me any good,” Shane responded, “Sparring would be better, but first things first.”

Shane closed the distance between them, kissed Hunter. It was taking what he deserved, what he denied himself and told himself he didn’t deserve. It was a step towards being able to relax. It was a thank you for understanding.


End file.
